


You Are Golden

by Finally_Facing_Failure



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Romantic Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 15:12:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8896114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finally_Facing_Failure/pseuds/Finally_Facing_Failure
Summary: Victor's POVVictor has met his soulmate, or at least he thought he had. But why doesn't Yuuri seem to care?





	

I am not smart. I’m not saying this because I want you to feel sorry for me, or because I pity myself, it’s just true. It may not seem of importance; intelligence is not something one must have to succeed in life. Nevertheless, I am not smart and it’s an significant part of my story.

Just so you know, my apparent dumbness didn’t alter most of my life. I was a fairly successful figure skater, having won gold at the Grand Prix Finals multiple times. I lived in Russia with my dog, I had a good amount of friends, and a small amount of real friends. I was relatively happy with my life, but to be honest, I was bored of it.

There was something missing, something that was such a prominent factor in most people’s life that I’d always been aware of not having it. You see, in this world, there were two kinds of people: those who had a soulmate and those who didn’t. Those whose genes were specifically altered to match with someone else’s and those who were bound to have to go through many a break-up caused by their partner’s true love.

I did have a soulmate, like about 80% of today’s population. I just hadn’t met them yet, which was rather odd, as the average person met their soulmate before they turned twenty. Yet here I was, twenty seven years old and alone. It could mean one of three things. Number one: they had seen me but didn’t want to meet me (maybe they think I’m a prick) (they could be right). Number two: they hadn’t seen me yet (because they lived in a different country or never left the house or something).

Or number three: they’d already died. (let’s not think about that one)

 

I had made it my personal quest to be as well-known as possible, to have people know and spread my name, in order to meet my soulmate. I was a talented figure-skater, always had been, but only after I turned twenty did I realize who I was skating for. My coach, Yakov, always said that was the year my performance changed into what it was today: golden.

Soulmates usually lived close to you, as you were supposed to meet them at some point. However, sometimes they lived far away, and they only visit your neighbourhood once or twice and you’re just going to have to take a chance. You see, the moment you meet your soulmate, you know it’s them. There’s many ways of knowing: you could suddenly see colours whereas before you thought you were colour blind, you could have the words they say to you when you meet tattooed on your body, or maybe you just felt a tug in your guts, signalling this person was made for you.

That’s what they always told you: when you meet your soulmate, you’ll know. This, however, is a lie. Because I thought I’d met them, thought I knew exactly how perfect we’d be together, but he didn’t. At least not to my knowledge.

I’d given up hope, had focussed on winning a few more competitions, but I was tired of it all. The skating was enjoyable, would always be so, but it wasn’t what I wanted anymore. I wanted to do something else, be a different person. A person who loved and was loved in return. That was when I saw the video of Yuuri Katsuki.

He was skating the Free Skate I’d won finals with this year. I don’t know what it was exactly, but something in the way he skated had me pack my bags and get on a plane to Japan. It might’ve been the way he was relaxed here, which I hadn’t seen in his show. It could’ve been the way he copied my every move. Or maybe it was just the essence of his performance, the vibe he gave off, the emotions he made me feel. It just felt right.

That is how I found myself here today, in Hasetsu, Japan. I’d decided to be his coach, the very person who I’d felt such a connection with, the person who’d let me down. He seemed surprised I was there, and that clenching pain I’d felt in my stomach when he’d turned me down last year returned, fuelled by the astonishment written on Yuuri’s face.

Yet there were moments, little snippets of time where I felt like there was something there. A flicker of light in his eyes that reminded me of what I’d felt when- No. Don’t think about this, not right now. I’m his coach, I promised him that I’d help him win the Grand Prix Finals, and I was going to do so without letting my emotions interfere.

“V-Victor?” Yuuri said, frowning. We’d been practising his free skate, the one he said was inspired by his love for skating. I plastered one of my famous smiles on my face and looked up at him. “Yuuri, you can’t let your thoughts distract you when you’re skating, it shows in your overall performance.” I’m such a hypocrite.

Yuuri just nods as he goes to practice his step-sequence for the thousandth time today. Guilt fills me, I shouldn’t be so hard on him, it’s not like he’s done anything to deserve it. He just didn’t feel as I did, but that’s fine. “Yuuri, how about we stop for today?” I say, the smile on my face now a bit more genuine. Yuuri scowls, skating toward me. “I don’t want to stop yet Victor, I haven’t perfected this bit yet!”

“Come on Yuuri, we can have lunch together and then you can skate some more until dinner.” Yuuri looks at me and for a minute, and I’d swear his eyes were filled with wonder and love. But I blinked and it was gone. “Okay, we could ask Yu-chan and Mari-chan to come along?” He said, exiting the ice.

“Or it could be just the two of us?” I said before my mind could catch up with my mouth. I shouldn’t have said that, if he doesn’t want to be with me, I shouldn’t push him. He turned around slowly. I was afraid he was going to call me out for my invite, but he was smiling. “Yeah, I guess that would be nice.” I beamed at him, helping him untie his skates. “Well, where’d you like to go?”

 

 

We were together more often than not lately. Yuuri had won nationals and so now we were preparing for the cup of Beijing, and I was sure he was going to do great. Convincing Yuuri of this wasn’t that easy though, as his self-confidence, although growing, was still lacking.

Regardless of the fact that his anxiety still bothered him, I noticed improvement in his behaviour. He was more open to me and to his family and friends, he talked to other skaters and the love in his performance kept getting more obvious. Most importantly, for me, he seemed to start to reciprocate my feelings.

There were lingering stares, compliments, awkward eye-contact, you know: the clichés. But I didn’t care, I just wanted to be with him. Whether he was my soulmate or not, I just wanted to date him and love him. I wanted to be sure he felt the same way, so I silently promised myself not to make a move until he did.

Well, nice plan, but it didn’t really work out. In my defence, Yuuri adding my signature move, the quadruple flip, in his program to surprise me was about as good a declaration of love as me kissing him. A little less direct, but the idea was there. I’d doubted whether or not he actually meant it that way, until my lips were on his and he was kissing back. A private moment between us, shared with thousands of people in the audience, but private nonetheless.

Yuuri’s friend, Phichit, was the first to congratulate us. He walked up to us and gave us a bone-crushing hug. Like, both of us, at the same time. I laughed, feeling light and free as a child. Phichit joined in, and Yuuri just stood there looking embarrassed, but at least a little pleased too.

Yuuri didn’t win. He came close, but Phichit beat him anyway. I didn’t care, as I could take Yuuri home and kiss him again and again, until we were both out of breath. Now that Yuuri could do the quadruple flip, winning would be easy.

 

 

Winning was not easy, at least not when you’re thousands of miles away from the person you’re skating for. It was all going so well, Yuuri’s performance kept improving, and I was so proud! But since life is just a bag of shit, I had to leave. Makkachin was ill, and I wasn’t going to let him suffer alone. Actually, it was Yuuri who got me to leave.

Another form of character improvement: he was now confident enough to send me away, and trust I’d return to him. Makkachin was okay though, thank God. Yuuri came in fourth, having skated a rather disappointed free skate. We reunited at the airport, running toward each other dramatically. It was a miracle I didn’t slam headfirst into a wall, really. But then Yuuri was there and we were hugging and he asked me to be his coach until he retired and I just felt so happy.

“Yuuri, you know I don’t blame you for not winning today right?” I asked when we were home. “Huh?” Yuuri looked up at me and I realized he was half asleep. We’d been laying on the coach, Makkachin half on top of us. “Nothing, go back to sleep.” I smiled, kissing the top of his head. I basked in the quiet peacefulness of it all, the calmness and love I’d never experienced before.

‘This feels right.’ I thought, not for the first time. Could it feel like this forever?

 

 

Out of all the things Yuuri could’ve given me instead of a birthday present, this was the thing I expected the least. Yuuri, when he wasn’t skating, was calm, quiet, reserved. He didn’t like being the centre of attention and didn’t do anything to provoke such attention. Not usually anyway.

Yet here he was, sliding a golden wedding band on my finger. We were in Barcelona, we’d been on top of Casa Mila merely two hours ago, looking at the city. Now, we were standing next to a church, a choir singing carols behind us. I smiled, tears in my eyes, as I slid a matching ring onto Yuuri’s finger, adoring the blush on his cheeks.

Together we walked back to where Minako and Mari were goggling through the window of a restaurant. Looking inside, I saw Yuri and Otabek, enjoying some tea together and I soundlessly laughed. Yuri may try as he will, but looking at the small smile that enlighted his face ever so slightly, it was easy to tell he wasn’t as distant and unfriendly as he seemed.

Soon, all of the skaters, Mari, Minako and I were sat around a table, happily chatting. I was drinking a beer, not paying attention, until I heard Yuuri say: “At last year’s Final, I was always by myself, even at the banquet.” I took a sip of my beer, laughing quietly. “I couldn’t even talk to Victor!”

I spit out the swig of beer I was drinking, almost choking on it. Yuuri shot me a confused look. “Yuuri, you don’t remember?” I said, turning to him. “What?” he said, worry evident in his features. “Yuuri, you got drunk on champagne and started dancing.” Chris said, tilting his head. “Everyone saw it.”

“That was disgusting as hell. I was dragged into a dance-off and got humiliated, too!” Yuri barked, squinting his eyes at Yuuri. As everyone discussed last year’s events with one another and pictures were exchanged, a realisation hit me.

Yuuri didn’t remember. He didn’t remember meeting me. He didn’t remember dancing with me, begging me to be his coach. Oh God… He didn’t know that my showing up at his house wasn’t without invitation! He must’ve thought I’d just randomly showed up at his family’s onsen, naked. This wasn’t happening, please let this be a dream!

Being lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed Chris mentioning the rings, until Yuuri tried to explain it. Quite poorly, might I add. “U-uhm… This- This is…” “They’re a pair!” I chirped in, holding up my hand to show off mine. Everyone stared at us, especially Phichit. He then jumped up, squealing. “CONGRATS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!!!”

I saw a few people in the restaurant look up, and I realized Yuuri wouldn’t like the attention. Before I could defuse the situation, Phichit put his hands to his mouth and started yelling. “Everyone! My good friend here got married!” People applauded and I saw Yuuri’s face burn up in shame. I chuckled as he tried to explain why we had the rings.

“Yeah, don’t get the wrong idea. This is an engagement ring. We’ll get married once he wins a gold medal. Right Yuuri?” I said. The faces of every skater around us went blank immediately. Whoops…

“Wait a second!” A voice yelled from outside. Ugh, JJ. “I’ll be the one who wins gold and gets married, of course!” He says, pointing at us. “That’s right, it’ll definitely be JJ!” His annoying fiancé said. “Sorry we can’t congratulate you on that future marriage!” JJ said, giving us a sickening white smile.

Without even having to discuss it, we all stood up in unison, making up excuses why we definitely had to go at that exact moment. We laughed as we made our way back to our respective hotel rooms, and only when we’d entered ours did I realize Yuuri had been awfully quiet. He was staring at the ring on his hand.

“Are you okay?” I asked gently, putting my hand under his chin and lifting it. He smiled at me and took my hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss it softly. “Yeah, I just realized something.” He smiled. “What a miracle! And what might that be?” I teased. “I love you.”

 

 

Love. He loved me. He actually freaking loved me. But he didn’t believe he had a soulmate, thought he was just not born that way. He’d never felt the tug, hadn’t seen any letters and colours had always been normal for him. I had felt it, so I did have a soulmate. Could it be it just wasn’t him? Was him loving me, me loving him, was it cheating on the person I was meant to be with? Or was I just wrong?

These thoughts hunted me, they had been for a while now. How was I supposed to know? How on earth could I know love when I hadn’t felt it in twenty years? The ring on my finger shined brightly and I stared at it, the rustic sea in the background, so at odds with the city life behind me. Suddenly I felt a foot in by back, kicking me repeatedly, and I turned around to see Yuri frowning at me.

After clarifying how much he hated Yuuri and how he was going to win the Grand Prix, he stomped away, leaving me to stare at his back. Yuri abruptly stopped and half turned around. “This place reminds me of Hasetsu’s ocean.” He said before continuing his way toward the city. I smiled. “I thought that, too.”

It didn’t matter whether or not I had a soulmate. Not when this beach made me feel like I was home. Not when my home was with Yuuri, the man I’d come to love. Should I have been right and I did have a soulmate, that wouldn’t change the way I felt right now. This feeling was worth it.

 

 

Yuuri didn’t do very well again. I guess it was to be expected, we’d made the program quite hard so he’d beat JJ. That hadn’t been necessary, seeing JJ completely screwed up his short program. Yuuri still had a shot, winning the gold medal was still an option, as long as he fought hard in his free skate tomorrow. We were in the changing rooms, having lounged there for a while after the competitions.

“Let’s go get some coffee!” I said, gaining the attention of some of the skaters around us. “I’m sorry, but I think we ought to head back to get some rest before tomorrow, right Yurio?” Said Otabek, making Yuri blush. I giggled, earning a nasty look from Yuri. “Well, I’d love to.” Said Phichit. “Ditto.” Chris smiled, pulling his coat tighter.

I soon found myself sipping a latte, secretly holding Yuuri’s hand under the table. Phichit and Chris were quietly chatting, so I took that as the time to ask Yuuri something. “Hey, remember when I showed up at your house naked?” I said softly, watching as Yuuri’s face reddened as he nodded. “Well, I’m sorry about that. I truly thought you remembered our… time together. You know, at the banquet.”

“I’m sorry too.” Yuuri whispered. “You asked for a picture and I just ignored you.” I smiled sadly, remembering how I’d felt in that moment. “It’s okay, you didn’t know.” Yuuri frowned “No, but you did. You didn’t deserve that." We stayed quiet for a moment, both lost in thought. “God your soulmate must be lucky.” Yuuri whispered, his voice breaking a little.

I looked up at him, astounded. Tears were threatening to fall out of Yuuri’s eyes, and I felt close to tears as well. “Yuuri…” I said tenderly, squeezing his hand. “If you’re not my soulmate, I’m sure I don’t have one.” He looked up at me, squinting his eyes a little. “But you’re such a fanatic believer in soulmates, do you truly thing you don’t have one?”

I smiled, putting down my latte to cup his face with one hand. “Yuuri, I’ve never loved someone the way I love you. Even if I had a soulmate, I wouldn’t love them like I love you.” I said, a tear falling from my cheek, a stark contrast from the genuine smile on my lips.

Phichit coughed, and I gathered Chris and he had stopped talking to listen to our conversation. “Sorry, I don’t mean to intrude, but there’s something you should know. Or actually I thought you already knew but…” Phichit said, worry evident in his eyes. I just shrugged, signalling for him to continue.

“Yuuri, I didn’t know what happened at the banquet last year, I wasn’t there, but you were calling me when you got drunk.” “Really? I don’t remember that at all!” Yuuri said, frowning. “Yeah, I figured. It’s just that you said something to me, something that didn’t really seem relevant until now. You asked me not to tell anyone, so I didn’t, but I think you should know.” Phichit said shyly.

I tilted my head, curious. What did Phichit know? He seemed rather embarrassed for knowing, or guilty, I couldn’t tell. “It’s okay you can tell me.” Yuuri said curiously. “Well, when you called me you said that you’d met someone. You were mostly just babbling about their eyes and how they’d danced, but then you started talking about this feeling you had.

“You said it was like someone was squeezing your guts, but instead of hurting, it felt like it was releasing butterflies. It was the most coherent sentence you’d formed all evening, so I thought it was serious. But then you started ranting about losing the Grand Prix and you didn’t talk about it until right before you hang up. You said that I couldn’t tell anyone, because that stranger wouldn’t want you.”

I took a deep breath. That feeling, that squeezing of the guts, I recognized it. It was what I’d felt when I met Yuuri. “Why have you never told me this?” Yuuri said, his voice so loud in comparison of the way he was speaking to me before. Phichit flinches. Definitely guilty then. “I didn’t know it was Victor! I’m sorry Yuuri!”

Yuuri relaxed a bit, letting go of my hand in order to put a hand on Phichit’s shoulder. “It’s okay, I don’t blame you. You probably dismissed it as another weird drunk call.” He said. Phichit seemed relieved, so I smiled at him. “At least we know now.”

“What do we know?” Christophe said with a devilish smile, insinuating he knew a lot more than his innocent question betrayed. I smiled back, beaming. “I felt it too, that night. Only I still remember it.” Yuuri’s eyes went big. “Does that mean… You know, that we’re…”

I chuckled, kissing Yuuri on his cheek. “Yeah, I think we are soulmates after all.”

 

 

“Let’s end this.” I stared at him, my eyes big. Such a revelation today, and he wanted to quit now?

But I was wrong, again, I realized as Yuuri slipped his ring off his finger. He got some string and a pair of scissors out of his bag, cut the string in two and used one half to make a necklace for himself. He put it around his neck and smiled shyly at me. “This is enough of a gold medal for me.” He said, and tears filled my eyes.

I repeated his actions, noticing how he watched my every move. When I put my necklace on, I smiled brightly at him. “No matter what happens tomorrow, no matter how you and the others perform, you are golden. You are golden to me, and I’ll prove it by becoming your husband.”

 

And so this is why I was stupid. Not because I hadn’t realized Yuuri could’ve forgotten that night we had spent together, but because I’d been so focussed on finding my soulmate. Yuuri and I had gotten together anyhow, as we were meant to be. Who cares whether or not we found proof our souls line up, as long as we’re together, we’re perfect and I don’t need anyone telling me otherwise.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys!  
> So I'm not sure that I like the way the time flies in this fic, but yeah I thought I'd put it up anyway :)  
> Hope Y'all enjoyed it!


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